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CAIE IGCSE Biology 16.1 Asexual Reproduction Questions

Practise asexual reproduction questions by identifying one-parent cloning, plant examples and crop-production trade-offs from diagrams and contexts.

Syllabus
2026–2028
Course
Biology 0610

Exam points

  • define asexual reproduction as one parent producing genetically identical offspring without gamete fusion
  • identify runners, plantlets, tubers, bulbs, stem cuttings and budding in diagrams or descriptions
  • explain rapid reproduction without mates, gametes, pollinators or fertilisation
  • link genetically identical crop offspring to reliable retention of desirable characteristics
  • link low genetic variation to poor environmental adaptation and disease spreading through a population

Covered syllabus points

16.1.1—Asexual reproduction as a process16.1.2—Examples of asexual reproduction16.1.3—Advantages and disadvantages

Question 1

[Maximum number: 6]

Fig. 2.1 shows a dwarf sunflower and a tall sunflower, Helianthus annuus. The height of the dwarf sunflower is 0.45 m and the height of the tall sunflower is 4.5 m .

not to scale

not to scale

Dwarf plants like the one in Fig. 2.1 have mutant alleles.

Question (a)

(a)

Fig. 2.3 shows how several strawberry plants can be formed from one parent plant.

Fig. 2.3

Fig. 2.3

[ 6 ]

Question (i)

(i)

Explain the type of reproduction that produces plants by the method shown in Fig. 2.3.

[ 3 ]

Question (ii)

(ii)

Explain the disadvantages of the type of reproduction shown in Fig. 2.3.

[ 3 ]

Question 2

[Maximum number: 1]

The diagram shows a strawberry plant.
Which labelled part of the plant can only be produced by asexual reproduction?

Figure for Question 2 — CAIE IGCSE Biology

Question 3

[Maximum number: 4]

Fig. 2.1 is a photograph of a spider plant, Chlorophytum comosum. Spider plants can reproduce by producing an identical plantlet, which grows away from the single parent plant.

Fig. 2.1

Fig. 2.1

Describe the advantages and disadvantages of asexual reproduction in a population of spider plants in the wild.

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